There are lots and lots of tennis "one-liners" - little bits of tennis advice that are summarized in just one sentence. And a lot of times, they're actually great! They can be simple to understand and easy to apply. So how often have you heard this one? "Take the ball on the rise." Your tennis pro may have said that to you. Or maybe you've heard a commentator talking about a pro doing it during one of the Slams. And maybe you're already doing that - taking the ball on the raise. But maybe you're not. Maybe you've heard that one-liner and wondered - what the heck does that even mean, take the ball on the rise? And how do I do that? And why would I even do that?
In this episode, we're talking about taking the ball on the rise and why you should try it out the next time you hit the tennis court. You can listen to this episode by clicking on the media player in this post or by listening in with your favorite podcast app. You can also subscribe in iTunes by clicking on this link: tennisfixation.com/itunes.
So this is truly a super quick tennis tip. Taking the ball on the rise. First, let's talk about what it means.
How Does A Tennis Ball Bounce?
Think about how a tennis ball bounces on court when it's coming towards you. When a ball is coming toward you and bounces on the court, it forms an arc. It leaves your opponent's racquet, rises up over the net, arcs down to bounce on your side of the court, rises up again after the bounce, and then arcs down again.
When Do We Usually Hit The Tennis Ball?
We usually wait until the ball passes through the high point of this second arc, the arc after the bounce, to hit the ball. And by we, I mean of course, us recreational, club level tennis players. If you're a high level player, if you play 4.5 or above tennis, if you're a ranked junior or a college player, you might not wait on the tennis ball. But most of us, most of the players listening to this podcast, probably wait on the ball before hitting it.
And why do we do this? Why do we often wait until the ball it coming down to hit it? Well, for two reasons. First, if we wait to hit the ball until it is dropping, it will have slowed down from the bounce quite a bit. And it will continue to slow down as it continues moving towards us. That makes it easier for us to hit the ball - it's moving slower.
Second, if we wait until the ball is dropping after the bounce, we can stay further back in the court to hit the ball. We don't have to move up, we can just wait for the ball to get to us. So waiting to hit until the ball is dropping let's us be a little bit lazier, maybe a little bit safer even because we don't have to move our feet as quickly.
If you put these two things together, a slower moving ball that is further back in the court, you can see that ball when it's coming down off that arc is a lot easier to hit. It's safer to hit and more likely that we'll hit a better ball, we'll have a better stroke, by waiting for the ball to drop after it bounces.
So why bother hitting the ball sooner? Why bother hitting the ball "on the rise"?
What Does "Hit The Ball On The Rise" Mean?
Well, first let's talk about what "hit the ball on the rise" even means.
As I said, most of us are waiting on the ball, letting it drop some in its arc before hitting it. Hitting the ball on the rise means hitting the ball earlier, moving in to hit the ball before it arcs up and drops down again. So you hit the ball as it is rising off the court after bouncing. You hit it right after it bounces on your side of the court, as it is rising in its arc.
What does this mean for you? Well, it means you're hitting the ball sooner than you usually do. It also means you have to move in closer to the net to hit the ball. You're not necessarily at the net or even close to the net, but you're much closer than you would be if you're waiting on the ball to arc down after the bounce.
Why Should You Hit The Ball On The Rise?
Both of those are good things for you. Hitting the ball sooner takes away some reaction time from your opponent. It gives him or her less time to get into position and to get ready for whatever you send back to them. It also means that you're closer to the net so you're moving in and taking control. This can often be a great position to get yourself into and is almost always a great idea in doubles.
How Do You Take The Ball On The Rise?
So maybe you're convinced that this taking the ball on the rise thing is a good idea. And maybe you even want to give it a try, either in your next practice session or even in your next match. How do you do it? How do you actually take the ball on the rise?
Well, this is one of those things that you just have to start doing. You really have to just start practicing doing this. Because the only thing that really needs to change for you to hit the ball on the rise is for you to be quicker and get yourself into position to hit the ball earlier. You need to move your feet quickly and get closer to the ball than you're used to.
As far as the mechanics of your swing, they don't change that much. Your back swing will very likely have to shorten some because you're acting more quickly and you may not have time for a full back swing. But again, this all goes to timing and acting more quickly.
It could be that you are already hitting the ball on the rise if you're hitting half volleys. That shot requires that you move in, shorten your back swing and take the ball early. So it's very similar to that. I'll link a podcast episode that I did on the half volley that can give you some tips on hitting that particular shot and that may also help you in taking the ball on the rise. You can find a link to that episode, called How to Play the Half Volley, by going to the show notes for this episode by going to tennisfixation.com/quicktips171.
But taking the ball on the rise is different than a half volley in that you can take the ball on the rise from anywhere on the court depending on how deep your opponent's ball is. You can take the ball on the rise from the baseline and many pros are known for doing just this. In fact, this is one of the things Andre Agassi was very well-known for. He was amazing at taking the ball on the rise when his peers were not.
I'm including a link to a YouTube video that I really like showing you a great drill you can do all on your own to practice taking the ball on the rise. This is a video from Ian Westermann from Essential Tennis who I interviewed back in Episode 104. I love this YouTube video because it not only shows you what taking the ball on the rise looks like, it shows you a way to practice this shot. And basically I think Ian is one of the best on-line tennis instructors out there. All of his videos are amazing. But be sure and check the show notes for this specific video.
Hitting the ball on the rise definitely takes some practice. So in addition to practicing by yourself, you may want to bring this up with your pro in your next lesson and ask about learning how to do it. Because the payoff to adding this type of shot to your arsenal can be well worth it. So get out there on the court and take the ball on the rise!
RESOURCES AND LINKS FROM THIS EPISODE
Check out these resources mentioned in this episode:
How to Play the Half Volley - Tennis Quick Tips Podcast Episode 132Essential Tennis YouTube video showing how you can practice taking the ball on the rise:
SHARE, SUBSCRIBE AND REVIEW
I would love it if you would take a minute to leave your review on iTunes. Just click here: Tennis Quick Tips on iTunes. It will help the show become more easily discovered by like-minded, awesome people just like you. And if you want to make sure you never miss an episode, be sure and subscribe on your smart device. You can click here to find the show in iTunes: Tennis Quick Tips on iTunes. Or you can click here to find the show in Stitcher: Tennis Quick Tips on Stitcher.
© Kim Selzman 2019-2020 All Rights Reserved